Greg Louganis remembers coming out to his mom

Former diver and four-time Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis sat down with SiriusXM’s Opie Radio, and during the interview he shared a few stories about his life as a gay athlete.

He spoke about the nerve-racking experience of coming out to his mom, and revealing that he was in a relationship with his male roommate.

“I was breaking up with one of my partners and it was a very volatile relationship,” Louganis said. “I think I was 22 – 21 or 22 – and I said, ‘Mom, I got to get out of here.’ And so then we packed up all my stuff and in the car I turned to her and said, ‘Mom, Kevin and I weren’t just roommates, we were lovers too.’ And she goes, ‘I know, son. What’s for dinner?'”

Louganis also talked about the media respecting his personal life while he was in the Olympics in the 1970’s and ’80’s.

“I became friends with a lot of the reporters, and it was just my policy not to discuss my private life with members of the media,” Louganis said. “Even though they knew about my sexual identity, they respected that.”

He also opened up about never having his image on the Wheaties box due to his sexual orientation.